Dirt Dessert - September 30, 2012

Dirt dessert - easy, messy, and kids love it! Not to mention adults that are kids at heart. :)

Dirt Dessert

Ingredients:

1 small tub of Cool Whip

1 box instant chocolate pudding mix

1 package Oreos (original or Double Stuf - your choice)

2 cups milk

gummy worms (or other creepy crawly gummy candy)

Directions:

Mix chocolate pudding mix and milk together until smooth and there are no lumps. Fold in the Cool Whip. (If you don't want to use the whole tub of Cool Whip, it's ok. You can even do without the Cool Whip if you prefer. I think I will next time) Put chocolate pudding in the fridge to chill and set up a bit while you do the next step. Now, open your package of Oreos, eat a couple to make sure they taste ok ;) and then put the rest in a gallon size baggie and smash into little pieces. (My little 2-year-old helper liked doing this part.) Now to layer. Take some cookies and layer them on the bottom of a trifle dish (if you use a trifle dish, you're going to want to at least double the recipe) or single serve clear dixie cups. Then pudding layer, then cookie, then pudding until you run out of both... ending with cookie layer. Garnish with gummy worms (my daughter also loved helping me with this part, but snuck about half of the worms into her mouth.) Store in fridge.

Daughter Review: 

My little girl help me make these and she's two... this has everything she could want in a dessert: chocolate pudding, gummies, cookies, and it was messy. I love dirt dessert. I love pudding and Oreos so the two together can only be yummier. I'm only a little ashamed to admit that I ate a couple for breakfast. ;)

Rich Triple Thick Chocolate Cake - September 23, 2012

I was looking for a yummy chocolate cake recipe for my father-in-law and uncle-in-law's birthday, and this is what I ended up going with. It looked good, and I was only missing a few ingredients, so I went with it. I found this recipe on the Just a Pinch site.

Rich Triple Thick Chocolate Cake

Ingredients: 6 eggs 2 sticks butter 3 c sugar 1 c plain yogurt 2 Tbsp evaporated milk 3 c all purpose flour 1 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1 1/2 c cocoa powder 1 1/2 c chocolate chips ICING: 1 c butter 3 c powdered sugar 3/4 c cocoa powder 4 Tbsp evaporated milk 1 Tbsp butternut flavoring

Directions: 1. Preheat oven to 325 2. Cream together eggs, softened butter, sugar, evaporated milk and yogurt. Sift together flour, baking soda and salt. Mix that into wet mixture. When all blended stir in choc chips. Pour into buttered bundt pan ( I can see where this would do well cooked in springform pan). Place in oven and cook for 80-85 min. Check towards the end to see when toothpick comes clean. Remove from oven and set aside to cool for at least 30 min. 3. Mix together all the icing ingredients. (I didn't have any butternut flavoring so I used 1 tsp almond extract and 1 tsp vanilla instead) Ice cake and top with handful of choc chips if you wish.   Looks like a donut huh? Husband Review: Man oh man did I hear a lot about this cake. The hubby ate it, but I don't think he enjoyed it too much. He's my biggest critic. I really wish that I could've found some butternut flavoring, because the almond extract and the vanilla didn't really work for me for the frosting. It had a very strong alcohol flavor. The cake itself was pretty dense and it was pretty dry. My father-in-law ate it and said it reminded him of a brownie. If the cake wasn't as dry, it would have had a nice flavor. I may try to make it again and tweak it a bit to get it how I want it. Maybe a chocolate ganach icing instead?

Crispy Pretzel Bars - September 16, 2012

**Sorry I didn't post this last week like I should have... I got a little busy and time just slipped away from me.**

I was going through my recipe book and found this guy. It seemed easy enough so I thought I'd give it a try.

Crispy Pretzel Bars

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar

1 cup light corn syrup

1/2 cup peanut butter

5 cups Rice Krispies

2 cups pretzels

1 cup M&Ms

Directions:
Melt sugar & corn syrup in microwave safe bowl until sugar is dissolved. Add peanut butter and stir until mixed. Add cereal, pretzels, & M&Ms. Mix well and press into a greased 9x13 inch pan. Let set and cut into squares.

Husband Rating:
These were pretty good, but in my pregnant state made me sick. :( My stomach can't handle peanut butter or pretzels right now. My husband thought they were ok, but I had also made a few other desserts at the same time and he had a dessert overload. These would be great to take camping or tailgating or some place where you want something simple to make and easy to eat. They do a great job of kicking any salty/sweet craving you may have. Play around with the add-ins. After baby comes, I'll make them again and add some chopped peanuts and maybe Nutella. 

Creamy Lemon Cake Bars - September 9, 2012

I found this recipe in a Taste of Home magazine. I like lemon and I know my father in law loves lemon bars so I thought I'd try this twist and see what he thought.

Creamy Lemon Cake Bars

Ingredients:

Crust:

1 pkg. lemon cake mix

1/2 cup butter

1 egg

Filling:

1 can (16oz) lemon frosting

1 pkg. cream cheese

2 eggs

1. Beat cake mix, butter and egg in a large bowl until crumbly. Press onto the bottom of a greased 13x9 inch baking pan.

2. Beat frosting and cream cheese in another bowl until smooth. Set aside 1/2 cup for topping. Add eggs to remaining mixture; beat on low speed until combined. Spread over crust.

3. Bake at 350 degrees for 34-40 minutes or until filling is set. Cool on a wire rack for 1 hour. Spread reserved frosting mixture over top. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours. Cut into bars. Store in the refrigerator.

Husband Rating:

He liked them, but lemon isn't his favorite. I loved these bars. The cake mix makes a cookie bottom and these kind of reminded me of a lemon cheesecake-like bar. Very tasty. My father in law gave me two thumbs up for them too. :)

S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies - September 2, 2012

A pinterest find. I was looking for a yummy cookie to take camping... and I found the perfect one.

S'mores Stuffed Chocolate Chip Cookies

Ingredients:

2 sticks (8 ounces) softened butter
1 cup granulated sugar
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
1 tablespoon vanilla
3½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 cups semisweet chocolate chips

24 graham cracker quarters or 12 full sheets separated at perforations
3 Hershey Bars, broken into rows of 3 bars
12 large marshmallows cut in half lengthwise

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a large baking sheet with parchment or a silpat liner.

2. In a stand or electric mixer, beat the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until well combined.

3. Place flour, salt and baking soda into a bowl; mix to combine then add slowly to wet ingredients along with the chocolate chips.

4. Layer a graham cracker quarter with 3 Hershey chocolate squares and 2 marshmallow halves. Close with another graham cracker.

5. Top s’more with a large scoop of cookie dough. Place in hands and place another large scoop on bottom then front and back sides as needed. 

 Form dough around s’mores. It is much easier than it sounds, just make sure your dough is around room temperature, and make one big disc shape. Pinch off excess dough if you have too much. 

(note: When your cookies go into the oven, they should look like HUGE, lumpy cookie dough balls on the tray.  The s'more should be completely encased with dough! The picture above just shows how it will look before you smooth the dough all over the s'more.)

6. Place large cookies onto prepared baking sheet and bake for 15-17 minutes or until edges are golden and centers are cooked through. Let cool for 10 minutes before transferring to cooling rack or serving plate.

 Look at the size of these things!!!!

Husband Rating:

Ummmm, awesome! I'm not a big fan of s'mores because I'm not a huge fan of marshmallows. These were seriously sooo good! The marshmallow kind of melted into the cookie dough and formed this super chewy layer. The whole batch made about 12 cookies... maybe. They were seriously huge. You can split one of these between two or three people no problem. Try these.